What does "move up to" mean for EMS?

[ApexMark]

I frequently hear "EMS [X] move up to station [Y]." Does this mean they are to physically drive the ambulance to the other location (presumably because of loss of coverage at the other station because of a deployment?) or they are to change what they monitor, or..?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[redbeard]

Yes. They will post at one spot then if another unit gets a call they will rearrange units to keep coverage even over an area.

 

[N9JOD]

Yes. They will post at one spot then if another unit gets a call they will rearrange units to keep coverage even over an area.

That's the way they do it here as well. I will often hear them tell a unit to move down the hill. These means to move from one town to the other.

 

[DomW]

I remember their was a stink in Washington D.C. about unfair ambulance coverage and resulting wait time many years ago.

 

[KK4JUG]

Most departments do that with fire apparatus as well as EMS. In fact, in our community, nearby departments have been known to stage a truck near our city/county limits (we're consolidated) during a large incident that uses all of an area's equipment. By the same token, we'll send equipment to their county when necessary.

 

[iMONITOR]

In Macomb County Michigan it's very common to see EMS units parked/staged behind grocery stores, abandoned parking lots, dead end roads, etc. As mentioned it's for quicker response by spreading out their resources rather than have them all in one place.

 

[DJ11DLN]

Same here. We have 2 ambulance stations in our little one-horse county, which is a lot longer N-S than it is wide E-W and they will often "stage central for posting" when things get thin on one end or the other.